writer & mother, feeding my dream and my family

Menu

Mothering Through My Darkness

I have exciting news to share… I’m proud and honored to be included in this important anthology, Mothering Through the Darkness: Women Open Up About the Postpartum Experience, coming out in November 2015, and edited by the wonderful women behind the HerStories Project.

The essay, which I wrote days before the deadline, came pouring out of me, as if it had been in hibernation. In a way, it had. I never believed I had postpartum anything. I didn’t feel that my pain warranted help. I wasn’t in deep enough, my darkness wasn’t dark enough. But now I understand that the spectrum is broader than I believed, that the lines are not black and white.

I believe this book will help de-stigmatize postpartum pain, and remind those who have suffered from it, or continue to suffer, that they are not alone.

It has helped me already, the writing of it, and I am eager to read the stories from my co-contributors, and glean wisdom from their experiences.

Have you or anyone you’ve known suffered from postpartum depression/anxiety/pain? Did they seek help or go at it alone?

Post navigation

26 thoughts on “Mothering Through My Darkness”

Congratulations! This is going to be an amazing book. You’re right about this: the spectrum is broad. It’s a really tough road and made worse when you are not “typical” so don’t know what’s happening or get help.

Thanks Lisa! I felt so alone while I was experiencing it, determined to muscle through without help. But now I see how much I was struggling. I do think – and hope – this book will help many, many women.

Congratulations – it sounds like it’s going to be an amazing anthology! I think, as you say, the spectrum on postnatal experience is really broad. After my first son I expect to feel on top of the world like everyone had told me about… but I didn’t. But I also didn’t feel depressed, I just felt kind of ‘off’ and thrown and like I was living in the twilight zone. Thankfully I had a group of mums from my antenatal class and we were honest with each other and supportive. I sometimes wonder where I would have been without them. Honesty in this area is so important. Whatever postnatal experience we have, we are not alone. xx

Thanks so much Maddy. Agreed, we all need support and honesty when we become new moms. I love the way you describe it, the Twilight Zone indeed! I felt that way too. My whole world had been ripped off like a tablecloth and everything was left shaking and unsteady.

I was pretty shocked too 🙂 I feel like I still have so much to learn, which I suspect will come when I read all the essays.

For obvious reasons I’m especially curious to read stories about women who also fell into the gray area, the outer edges of PPD. It wasn’t until I gave myself permission to write the essay did I acknowledge how lonely and painful that time was for me.

Congratulations, Dana! What wonderful news. I’m so excited to hear that your writing will be included in this important anthology. It’s important to share a variety of experiences. I bet a lot of women will recognize their own story in yours, enabling them to “pull the curtain” back so to speak and realize that they aren’t alone.